The Red Sox Have Finally Started To Build Their 2026 World Series Team By Acquiring Sonny Gray From The Cardinals

This is a good start. 

Last night on Dirty Water - A Boston Sports Podcast - we were BEGGING the Red Sox to make a move. The Baseball Gods - and Craig Breslow - apparently heard our cries.  

The Red Sox acquired 36-year-old Sonny Gray from the Cardinals on Tuesday, right before lunch. 

In return for the veteran right-hander, the Red Sox gave up righty Richard Fitts and 22-year-old lefty prospect Brandon Clark, who the guys over at Sox Prospects have always seemed to like. 

My first reaction was to point out that Craig Breslow has discussed adding starting pitching that would "move the needle." As good as Gray is, I don't view this as that type of move. Gray is a good pitcher who fits as a solid No. 3, but I don't view him as a strong No. 2 behind Garrett Chochet. 

His 4.28 ERA ranked 50th among all starters last year with a min. 150 IP. But his 3.39 FIP was 12th of 70 qualifiers. FIP, or Fielding Independent Pitching, is an advanced baseball statistic that measures a pitcher's performance based only on the events they can control: strikeouts, home runs, walks, and hit batters. So yeah, he was a bit unlucky last year. And he's just a few years removed from leading the league in ERA and finishing second in the Cy Young voting.  

The deal looks better when you factor in the Cardinals sending $20 million, making it a one-year, $21 million contract for Gray. That's not a bad deal for a rental in a season the Red Sox should be trying to win a World Series. And Sonny Gray getting the ball in a playoff series would not be a bad thing. 

We'll see how this might affect other moves the team makes. If they still add a No. 2, bring back Alex Bregman, and add a bat, that would qualify as a good offseason. 

But, if this is Breslow's BIG pitching move…well, then I'll be first in line to complain about it. 

But by trading for a veteran pitcher today that can help the team now, Breslow and Co. acknowledge they are indeed in their "window of contention."